• Plenty of space for a supermini
• Impressive amount of boot space
• Lots of standard safety features

How much space is there?

Volkswagen claims the Polo is one of the most spacious cars in its class – and we see no reason to doubt that. Remember that size is relative, though. We’re still talking about a supermini here so, although four adults will fit, those in the back won’t exactly luxuriate in palatial surroundings.

We found headroom in the back is perfectly good for passengers around six feet tall, but knee and legroom are at more of a premium, especially if someone tall is sat ahead. The roomier Skoda Fabia is a better option if you regularly carry adults in the back – or a bulky child seat, for that matter.

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Space in the front is a lot better. There’s plenty of head, leg, and elbow room, while the Polo’s narrow centre console doesn’t hem the driver into their seat in the same way a Renault Clio does.

Boot space and storage

The Volkswagen Polo has a 351-litre boot. That’s significantly larger than the 309 litres you get in the back of a petrol-powered Vauxhall Corsa, but trails the 391 litres of luggage space found in the Renault Clio.

Volkswagen designed the shape of the Polo’s boot well. There are scallops into the side panels above the wheel arches, which we found useful for packing things like jackets, shoes and soft bags into when we rammed the boot full. The boot floor can be positioned at two levels or removed entirely. At the upper level, there’s no loading lip and a useful separate space under the floor for storing shopping bags, dog toys and so on.

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Fold the rear seats flat and boot space increases to 1,125 litres – more than you get in most superminis. Like most of the cars in this class, the rear seat back rest folds in a 60:40 split; you need the boot floor at its upper level to avoid a big bump onto the folded back seat.

Is it easy to park?

Yep. The Polo is a relatively small car with large door mirrors and big windows, and the view out all-round is excellent. Its relatively square shape means you can easily judge where the car’s extremities are, as well.

You do have a helping hand, though. All models currently on sale have rear parking sensors, and the second-tier Match trim level adds a reversing camera. Go for the up-scale Style and you also get front parking sensors.  

Safety

• Five-star Euro NCAP rating
• Impressive standard safety feature list
• Active safety tech can be irritating

This generation of Volkswagen Polo has been assessed twice by crash safety body Euro NCAP, on its launch in 2017 and post-facelift in 2022 – when some extra safety features were added. On both occasions, it scored a full five-star safety rating. It’s score of 94% for adult occupant protection in a crash is particularly impressive for a supermini.

Lots of driver assistance systems are fitted to the Polo including (depending on model):

• Autonomous emergency braking
• Lane departure warning
• Lane keeping assist
• Traffic sign recognition
• Driver attention monitor
• SOS call button
• Adaptive LED headlights

Certain Polo models are also available with Travel Assist, a semi-autonomous driving function that combines lane-keeping tech and adaptive cruise control to keep the car in its lane at a set speed, with little direct input from the driver (you still need to keep your hands on the steering wheel).

It really helps to fight fatigue on a monotonously long drive, but Volkswagen’s lane-keeping assist system is a little too aggressive for our liking. It’s particularly frustrating on a narrow country lane, but at least turning it off is easily done.

Three sets of Isofix child seat mounts are fitted, on the outer rear seats and the front passenger seat.

Watch the Volkswagen Polo Euro NCAP crash test